DJ Harvey
Encyclopedia
Dj Harvey, is a DJ from Cambridge, England. He has achieved a following the world over including places such as Singapore
and Japan
. Harvey is considered extremely influential in bringing over the disco
/garage/house sound from America to the UK.
His musical career officially began at the age of thirteen when he was enlisted as a drummer
for a Cambridge punk band Ersatz, whose other members’ average age was 24. The band formed an indie label, Leisure Sounds, releasing the single Smile in Shadow, which was broadcast on Radio 1’s John Peel Show.
Harvey’s progression into DJing came after a trip to New York
where he was inspired by the emerging hip-hop movement. He felt that “cutting up” breaks was an extension of drumming and so purchased his first pair of Technics
, brought them home and practised. A graffiti “bomber” and member of the gang which went on to take the name, TDK (Tone Deaf Crew) Harvey's crew gained notoriety as TONKA Hi Fi. It was as the DJ for the crew that he forged his reputation as an eclectic programmer of music, throwing outlandish, sometimes weekend-long, parties in their native Cambridge
as well as Brighton
, London
and on the festival circuit. The Brighton parties continued for five years, from 1988 to 1993, drawing a large and loyal crowd, to The Zap
Club, and, after the club closed at 2am, for hours, or even days more, on the beach, at Black Rock.
Having already been in love with hip hop, electro and disco
the sound he had emulated after his trip to New York he inevitably alighted on house and garage too, and began playing more parties in London
; along such US DJ heavyweights as Francois Kevorkian
and Kenny Carpenter all of whom were still relatively unknown and unheard of in this country. Playing such as Solaris and Freedom were all after the Harvey sound.
In 1991 Harvey further cemented his reputation with his own night “Moist” at the Gardening Club in London. It was here he brought over some of the greatest New York DJs including Larry Levan
, locahis fabled six-hour mix of disco, house, garage and dancefloor friendly rock records, a sound he has carried through to his later residencies, notably the celebrated New Hard Left
at the Blue Note
.
After Moist ended, Harvey began playing the bar at the Ministry Of Sound
, where he later became resident on both Friday and Saturday. This resulted in the 1996 release of his mix album “Late Night Sessions”
He has released tracks under various pseudonyms on labels such as Mo' Wax
, Dorado
, Ministry Of Sound
, Skint and Junior Boys Own. He has produced and remixed tracks for Jamiroquai
, LCD SoundSystem , Brand New Heavies
, Ian Brown
, Stereo MCs
, Electronic
, The Police
and Cornershop
as befits his eclectic style. He is one half of the duo behind the classic and elusive Black Cock record label, on which he has recreated famous and lost edits of disco records by house music pioneers such as Larry Levan and Ron Hardy.
Harvey's nine hour sets in Los Angeles for his warehouse party harveysarcasticdisco, a collaboration with Sarcastic Clothing, have attracted an assortment of enthusiastic music fans. He is currently playing DJ gigs around the planet with residencies in New York, Washington and San Francisco . He has also collaborated with Thomas Bullock
(of Rub'N'Tug and A.R.E. Weapons
) on the disco rock project Map of Africa, which released an LP in 2007 on Whatever We Want records.
Harvey's latest recording moniker is as Locussolus a project released on International Feel Recordings. The tracks feature to vocals of Tara Selleck (niece on actor Tom Selleck) Sam Fox (actress in We Bought A Zoo directed by Cameron Crowe) and Heidi Lusardi (herself an accomplished DJ)
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Harvey is considered extremely influential in bringing over the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
/garage/house sound from America to the UK.
His musical career officially began at the age of thirteen when he was enlisted as a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
for a Cambridge punk band Ersatz, whose other members’ average age was 24. The band formed an indie label, Leisure Sounds, releasing the single Smile in Shadow, which was broadcast on Radio 1’s John Peel Show.
Harvey’s progression into DJing came after a trip to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where he was inspired by the emerging hip-hop movement. He felt that “cutting up” breaks was an extension of drumming and so purchased his first pair of Technics
Technics (brand)
1960s:*SX-601 Electronic Organ — an origin of Technics SX keyboard series, the result of cooperative works of National Electronic Organ Company and Ace Tone...
, brought them home and practised. A graffiti “bomber” and member of the gang which went on to take the name, TDK (Tone Deaf Crew) Harvey's crew gained notoriety as TONKA Hi Fi. It was as the DJ for the crew that he forged his reputation as an eclectic programmer of music, throwing outlandish, sometimes weekend-long, parties in their native Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
as well as Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and on the festival circuit. The Brighton parties continued for five years, from 1988 to 1993, drawing a large and loyal crowd, to The Zap
The zap
The Zap Club first opened at the New Oriental Hotel Brighton in April 1982. Founded by Neil Butler Patricia Butler and Amanda Scott the Zap was an experiment to mix radical art with cutting edge entertainment...
Club, and, after the club closed at 2am, for hours, or even days more, on the beach, at Black Rock.
Having already been in love with hip hop, electro and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
the sound he had emulated after his trip to New York he inevitably alighted on house and garage too, and began playing more parties in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; along such US DJ heavyweights as Francois Kevorkian
François Kevorkian
François Kevorkian, alias François K, is a French DJ of Armenian origin, remixer, producer and record label owner. Having started his career in renowned clubs such as the Paradise Garage and Studio 54, the New York City resident is widely considered as one of the forefathers of house...
and Kenny Carpenter all of whom were still relatively unknown and unheard of in this country. Playing such as Solaris and Freedom were all after the Harvey sound.
In 1991 Harvey further cemented his reputation with his own night “Moist” at the Gardening Club in London. It was here he brought over some of the greatest New York DJs including Larry Levan
Larry Levan
Larry Levan was a DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. He developed a cult following who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass"...
, locahis fabled six-hour mix of disco, house, garage and dancefloor friendly rock records, a sound he has carried through to his later residencies, notably the celebrated New Hard Left
Hard left
Hard left is a name often given to an internal tendency within the British Labour Party. Similar terminology is used also in the context of the Australian Labor Party....
at the Blue Note
Blue note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
.
After Moist ended, Harvey began playing the bar at the Ministry Of Sound
Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound London, commonly referred to as simply Ministry of Sound or MoS, is a nightclub based in London, United Kingdom and an associated record label. It was ranked fourth in the 2010 DJ Magazine top 100 clubs poll 2010. As well as the nightclub in London, there is another in Egypt and...
, where he later became resident on both Friday and Saturday. This resulted in the 1996 release of his mix album “Late Night Sessions”
He has released tracks under various pseudonyms on labels such as Mo' Wax
Mo' Wax
Mo' Wax was a UK-based record label owned by James Lavelle, who founded it in the early 1990s with Tim Goldsworthy. Steve Finan became co-owner shortly after. The label came to recognition for being at the forefront of trip hop, turntablism and alternative rap during the mid-90s...
, Dorado
Dorado
Dorado is a constellation in the southern sky. It was created in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish , which is known as dorado in Spanish, although it has also been depicted as a swordfish...
, Ministry Of Sound
Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound London, commonly referred to as simply Ministry of Sound or MoS, is a nightclub based in London, United Kingdom and an associated record label. It was ranked fourth in the 2010 DJ Magazine top 100 clubs poll 2010. As well as the nightclub in London, there is another in Egypt and...
, Skint and Junior Boys Own. He has produced and remixed tracks for Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
, LCD SoundSystem , Brand New Heavies
Brand New Heavies
The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.-Biography:The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International....
, Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
, Stereo MCs
Stereo MCs
Stereo MCs are an English electronic dance group, which formed in Clapham, London in 1985. They are best known worldwide for their 1992 transatlantic Top 20 hit single, "Connected"...
, Electronic
Electronic (band)
-Albums:-Singles:-Music videos:-External links:* *...
, The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
and Cornershop
Cornershop
Cornershop are a British indie rock band formed in 1991 by Wolverhampton-born Tjinder Singh , his brother Avtar Singh , David Chambers and Ben Ayres , the first three having previously been members of Preston-based band General Havoc, who released one single in 1991...
as befits his eclectic style. He is one half of the duo behind the classic and elusive Black Cock record label, on which he has recreated famous and lost edits of disco records by house music pioneers such as Larry Levan and Ron Hardy.
Harvey's nine hour sets in Los Angeles for his warehouse party harveysarcasticdisco, a collaboration with Sarcastic Clothing, have attracted an assortment of enthusiastic music fans. He is currently playing DJ gigs around the planet with residencies in New York, Washington and San Francisco . He has also collaborated with Thomas Bullock
Thomas Bullock (musician)
Thomas Bullock is a musician and former member of the electroclash group A.R.E. Weapons.Originally from Cambridge, Bullock got his start in the late 80s in the U.K. with the Tonka crew alongside DJ Harvey. In 1991 he moved to San Francisco and joined the Wicked crew alongside Markie, Jeno, and DJ...
(of Rub'N'Tug and A.R.E. Weapons
A.R.E. Weapons
A.R.E. Weapons is a noise-rock band from New York City. Formed in 1999 by Matthew McAuley, Brian F. McPeck, and Ryan Noel, A.R.E. Weapons has been described as hardcore electro-rock. Their live shows are noted for their aggressiveness and confrontational style. Rough Trade was encouraged to sign...
) on the disco rock project Map of Africa, which released an LP in 2007 on Whatever We Want records.
Harvey's latest recording moniker is as Locussolus a project released on International Feel Recordings. The tracks feature to vocals of Tara Selleck (niece on actor Tom Selleck) Sam Fox (actress in We Bought A Zoo directed by Cameron Crowe) and Heidi Lusardi (herself an accomplished DJ)
External links
- http://www.harveysarcasticdisco.com
- http://www.deepspacenyc.com/static_content/harvey_bio.html